U.S. National Overview

November 2006

• 14th warmest November on record (1895-2006).
• Fourth warmest November for the Northeast region.
• Four states (Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Rhode Island) were record warmest during November.
• Alaska was 12th coolest on record (1918-2006) for November with temperatures 7.2°F (4.0°C) below the 1971-2000 mean.
  
  
• 32nd wettest November for U.S.
• Second wettest November on record for the Northwest region.
• Washington ranked wettest November, surpassing previous record by nearly 2 inches.
  
  

• 44th warmest fall on record (1895-2006).
• Three states (New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont) ranked among the top ten warmest fall periods on record.
• Alaska was 40th warmest fall on record (1918-2006) with temperatures 0.7°F (0.4°C) above the 1971-2000 mean.
  
  
• 14th wettest fall for contiguous U.S.
• Northeast region ranked 4th wettest fall.
• New Jersey ranked wettest fall on record; Maryland and Virginia were second wettest.
  
  

For information on local temperature and precipitation records during the month of November, please visit NCDC's Extremes page.

• Drought conditions intensified in north-central Oklahoma during November. Areas of extreme drought across Texas also expanded. A very active storm track across the Pacific Northwest eliminated the persistent dry conditions in parts of this region. Record amounts of precipitation fell during November. Seattle reported it's wettest month on record with 15.63 inches (397 mm) of precipitation. Parts of the Southeast also had a reprieve from the prolonged dryness in this region. For more information on drought during November, please visit the U.S. Drought page.
  
  
• The Atlantic Hurricane Season came to an end with 9 named storms (4 tropical storms and 5 hurricanes - 2 major): a near-average season. No hurricanes made landfall along the U.S. mainland in 2006. For additional information on hurricanes in the atlantic basin in 2006, please visit the Atlantic Hurricane Season page.
  
  
• In the East North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Rosa and Hurricane Sergio formed. Hurricane Sergio was a strong category 2 storm and the strongest November hurricane on record in the East North Pacific basin. For the season, 19 named storms formed (8 tropical storms and 11 hurricanes - 6 major), which was above average. For additional information on hurricanes in the East North Pacific basin in 2006, please visit the East North Pacific Hurricane Season page.
  
  
• El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions remained in a warm phase (El Niño) in the tropical Pacific basin as Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) in the Equatorial Pacific continued to warm and expand throughout November. As of the beginning of December, SST anomalies are between 1.1°C and 1.3°C in all of the Niño regions, except for the Niño 1+2 region. El Niño conditions are expected to intensify during the next few months and will likely continue through spring 2007. For more information on ENSO conditions, please visit the NCDC ENSO Monitoring page and the latest NOAA ENSO Advisory.

• November 2006 was the 14th warmest November in the 1895-2006 record.  The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 45.0°F (7.2°C), which was 2.5°F (1.4°C) above the 1901-2000 (20th century) mean.
  
  
• November had above-average precipitation nationally, ranking as the 32nd wettest November in the 1895-2006 record. An average of 2.47 inches (63 mm) fell over the contiguous U.S. in November, 0.4 inches (9 mm) above the 20th century mean for the month.
  
  
• The 3-month period (September-November) was the 44th warmest in the 1895-to-present record, 0.3°F (0.2°C) above the 20th century mean. The preliminary nationally averaged September-November temperature was 54.5°F (12.5°C). A total of 7.97 inches (202 mm) of precipitation fell during this 3-month period, which corresponds to a ranking of 14th wettest.
  
  
• The 6-month (June-November) national average temperature was the 9th warmest such period on record. The nationally-averaged temperature was 64.4°F (18.0°C), which was 1.3°F (0.7°C) above the 20th century mean. At 16.01 inches (407 mm), June-November precipitation was above average and ranked as the 29th wettest such period in the 1895-2006 record.
  
  
• January to November has been the 2nd warmest such year-to-date period on record. The nationally averaged year-to-date temperature was 56.7°F (13.7°C), or 2.1°F (1.2°C) above the mean. The year-to-date period was the 53rd driest January-November in the 112-year record, receiving a national average of 26.92 inches (684 mm) of precipitation during the period, or 0.02 inches (0.4 mm) above the 20th century mean.
  
  
• December 2005 - November 2006 was the 3rd warmest such period in the 1895-2006 record.  The preliminary nationally-averaged 12-month temperature was 54.7°F (12.6°C), which was 1.9°F (1.0°C) above the mean. Precipitation was slightly below the mean for the December 2005 - November 2006 period, ranking it as the 49th driest December-November in the 111-year record.  The nationally-averaged 12-month precipitation accumulation was 29.07 inches (738 mm), or 0.09 inches (2 mm) below the 20th century mean.

• November precipitation across Washington was wettest on record and 2nd wettest for the Northwest region. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia also ranked among the top ten wettest November periods on record. Parts of the southern U.S., Southwest and central Plains experienced below average precipitation for the month. New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey were each warmest on record during November. The Northeast region was 4th warmest. None of the contiguous states experienced below average temperatures during this period.
  
  
• September-November precipitation across New Jersey was wettest on record, 2nd wettest for Maryland and Virginia. Vermont, New Hampshire and New Jersey each ranked among the top ten warmest such periods on record. Below average temperatures were centered across the Southeast, Ohio Valley and central Plains.
  
  
• In the Northeast and Northwest regions, September-November precipitation ranked 4th wettest and 10th wettest, respectively. The West region ranked 22nd driest during this 3-month period.
  
  
• The past 6-months (June-November) were above- to much-above-average across 7 of the 9 climate regions, with the West and the Northwest having their 3rd and 4th warmest such periods on record, respectively. Precipitation across the Northeast region was the wettest June-November period on record. The Southwest ranked 9th wettest and the Central region ranked 11th wettest during this period in 2006.
  
  
• June - November temperatures were much above average across most of the western third of the contiguous U.S. as well as most of New England. California, Oregon and Idaho were each 3rd warmest on record for this period. Sixteen states had temperatures which were much above average during the June to November period. Rhode Island ranked wettest such 6-month period with over 35 inches (896 mm) of accumulated precipitation. Delaware, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina and Virginia each experienced their 2nd wettest such period on record in 2006. In contrast, Wyoming, Minnesota and Florida each ranked among their top ten driest such 6-month periods on record.
  
  
• During the Year-to-Date period (January-November), temperatures were 2nd warmest for New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas. Forty-six of the 48 contiguous states were either above or much above average during this period. Indiana, New Hampshire and Vermont had their 2nd wettest such period on record. Eight additional states (Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine) were among the top ten wettest during this period. In stark contrast to the wet conditions in the northeastern U.S., Florida was 2nd driest and Wyoming was 4th driest during the January-November period.
  
  
• The January-November regional temperature across the West North Central region was 3rd warmest in the 1895-2006 record. The South was 4th warmest. Every other region was either above or much above average during this period. The Northeast region was 2nd wettest during the year-to-date period.
  
  
• The January-November period across Alaska was slightly below the 1971-2000 mean: the coolest such period since 1999.
  
  
• December 2005 - November 2006 was either warmer or much-warmer-than-average for all but five states in the contiguous U.S. North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and Vermont were 3rd warmest on record for this period. Indiana and New Hampshire ranked 2nd wettest. Eleven additional states ranked among the top ten wettest such periods on record. Florida ranked 2nd driest and Wyoming 4th driest.
  
  
• Regional temperature ranks for the December to November period were all above to much above average in 2006. The South ranked 3rd warmest, and the Northeast region was 3rd wettest on record during this period.

  
  
  See NCDC's Monthly Extremes web-page for weather and climate records for the month of November.